EU trade procedures. Conservative Party leadership candidate (2016) Immediately following the referendum vote on 23 June 2016 for Britain to leave the EU, David Cameron announced that he would resign as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister by October. Leadsom was one of the early favourites to become the next Prime Minister, and was also linked with a possible role as Chancellor. On 30 June 2016 she announced her candidacy to become leader of the Conservative Party. Leadsom said she would trigger Article 50 immediately upon becoming Prime Minister, and conduct swift negotiations with the European Union. In the first round of voting on 5 July 2016, Theresa May received support from 165 MPs, while Leadsom came second with 66 votes. In the second ballot, Leadsom came second with 84 votes. Michael Gove was eliminated with 46 votes. Theresa May received 199 votes. On 11 July 2016, Leadsom announced she would be withdrawing her leadership bid, leaving Theresa May as the successor to David Cameron. Interviews In a BBC interview on 7 July 2016, Leadsom spoke of her disappointment about plotting in the leadership race, including alleged attempts by opponents to block her from the final ballot. She dismissed as "ridiculous" accusations that her biography was misleading, saying that her "incredibly varied" CV is "all absolutely true". Leadsom promised to "banish the pessimists" and to provide prosperity for the UK if elected, and stated that she was committed to fair trade. She also stated that she would review the Hunting Act with a focus on animal welfare if elected, and was asked about her concerns over the legislation passed to introduce same sex marriage. Prior to 2017 election Leadsom advised Theresa May not to repeat her promise to allow parliamentary time to discuss repealing the hunting ban, but was overruled. She also criticised her rival Theresa May's plan to use the status of EU nationals living in the UK as "bargaining chips", promising that if she was elected they could stay. Alleged exaggeration of pre-government jobs and responsibilities On 6 July 2016 The Times and other news media published articles which said that Leadsom had overstated her private sector experience and responsibilities. They said that despite references her supporters had made to her managing "billions of pounds in funds" and her impressive-sounding job titles, she had held financial services regulator approval for only a brief three-month period in